Labour-run Birmingham City Council is under fire after £11M probe over eye-watering payments made to taxi firm charging more than £200 a day to take a child three miles to school and back

• EXCLUSIVE: Birmingham Council accused of overpaying taxi firms by £14m
• Green Destinations charged £11m more than rivals for comparable levels of work
• Do you have information on Birmingham City Council home to school transport contracts? Email [email protected]

An unassuming office above a children’s playschool in a Birmingham industrial park was at the centre of a multi-million pound investigation at Britain’s biggest council.

The tiny premises is the listed base of operations of taxi firm Green Destinations Ltd, which will have billed Birmingham City Council an eye-watering £17million this year for ferrying children to and from school, analysis of documents leaked to MailOnline reveals.

Our investigation has uncovered that GDL, owned and run by Jameel Malik, are routinely paid around £200 a day – tens of thousands of pounds a year – to drive lone pupils just a few miles to school.

Included among the dozens of huge charges is a £230, three days a week charge, to drive a single child less than two miles each way to school in a wheelchair-accessible cab, around £65 per mile. A Hackney Carriage fare would be less than £15 a day.

Another example is a £210 a day, or £40,500 a year, fare to drive one pupil a little more than three miles each way.

The firm also charged £120 a day, nearly £23,000 a year, for a daily journey of just 1.5 miles each way for one pupil in a standard car.

An unassuming office of above a children’s playschool in a Birmingham industrial park was at the centre of a multi-million pound misconduct investigation at Britain’s biggest council (registered offices of Green Destinations Ltd pictured)

Jameel Malik, director and owner of home to school transport firm which may have been overpaid by Birmingham Council by around £11million

Eye-watering home to school transport fares charged to Birmingham City Council by Green Destinations Ltd (figures have been rounded)

The boss of rival cab firm HATS, which has similar contracts with the Labour-run authority, was more than surprised by figures which suggest GDL charge around £11million more per year than their competitors for a comparable service.

The number of routes operated by GDL in Birmingham has grown substantially since 2020 – and rose by more than a third between 2022 and 2023, leaked data suggests.

Can you share any information on Birmingham City Council home to school transport contracts?

Email [email protected]

Allegations from a whistleblower that staff may have ‘knowingly enabled or allowed overcharges to occur’ spurred the more than £3billion-a-year authority to launch an internal investigation.

But the council has refused Freedom of Information requests from MailOnline for the investigation report, saying the ‘information was given in confidence’.

Officers did however admit that there was a public interest argument to releasing the report as it concerned ‘serious’ issues of ‘maladministration and misconduct by individuals, in the performance of Council business’.

This comes as the council faces turmoil after it was revealed it needs to find £100million to fix a ‘failing’ IT system – as the Labour leader was forced out.

Local authorities are legally required to provide pupils with transport to school in certain situations, often if they have a special need or disability, or if they live too far from an appropriate school. 

Green Destinations Ltd has charged approximately £17million to run more than 450 home-to-school transport (H2ST) routes a year. But if their pricing mirrored that of nationally recognised competitors such as HATS, analysis suggests this cost could be closer to £6million – an £11million difference.

Birmingham City Council has repeatedly refused to engage when asked for comment on the accuracy of these figures.

The council claimed an internal audit found ‘no evidence’ that an employee or employees may have knowingly enabled or allowed overcharges to occur. But they have refused to release this report citing ‘commercial sensitivity’.

Minibuses owned by Birmingham home to school transport firm Green Destinations

The registered offices of Green Destinations Ltd at SKN Business Centre in Birmingham

When accounting for the number of pupils in a vehicle and route mileage, GDL, a large regional medical and H2ST transport firm, charges nearly three times more than their biggest competition, the data shows.

Another local firm, AFJ Ltd, also appears to be charging Birmingham Council far more than their competitors for their services.

They run more than 173 routes at a total cost of around £7million a year but analysis suggests that they charge nearly two times more than major competitors – amounting to approximately £3million a year.

Sources have told MailOnline that the council were made aware of higher amounts charged with GDL and AFJ’s contracts by staff, but senior leadership have seemingly failed to act on those concerns for more than a year.

It has been claimed that staff who have raised these issues were routinely blocked from important meetings on H2ST contracts – and some of these people have been let go for seemingly unrelated reasons or decided to leave the organisation.

The officers who are directly responsible for arranging these H2ST contracts are still employed by BCC.

The data suggests that, aside from higher than usual prices on individual routes, a significant proportion of the money going to GDL and AFJ comes from the large proportion which have just one child in a vehicle – the most expensive way to transport pupils.

Half of the routes run by GDL are solo occupancy, which is by far the highest proportion of any H2ST in Birmingham. The firm runs more than 60 per cent of all solo H2ST routes in Birmingham.

More than a quarter of AFJ’s routes in Birmingham, around 50 are solo occupancy routes, which is the second highest by some margin. This accounts for more than 10 per cent of this type of route.

But major competitors, including nationally reputable firm HATS Group, who have contracts for a significant number of routes in Birmingham run close to zero single-child home to school journeys.

HATS chairman Henry Bilinski has claimed that their firm has not been offered a fair opportunity to tender for lucrative solo-route contracts on this scale, which could be against public procurement laws.

He also said the company lost a significant chunk of their business a year after being brought in despite a pristine record.

But Birmingham Council claimed all contracts were ‘tendered in accordance with the council’s procurement processes and in a legally compliant manner’.

The group was brought in to run services at short notice in August 2021 after supplier North Birmingham Travel had their contract terminated after a scandal over poor welfare and compliance checks.

Despite issues with the outgoing supplier, HATS successfully redeployed more than 275 staff and procured 127 vehicles at a cost of nearly £3.2million. But the firm lost around half of their routes with BCC a year later.

Mr Bilinksi said: ‘In August 2022 just prior to the commencement of the new Academic Year, HATS were informed that we had lost approximately 50% of the school routes – despite our excellent compliance record, up-front investment and, we believe based on 25 years industry experience, being very competitively priced.

‘The award of this work is governed by strict legislation which includes statutory and regulatory compliance, quality thresholds and cost weighting. Birmingham City Council will be aware of this legislation, including the robust checks and balances, governance and due diligence requirements, of which this legislation has oversight

‘Despite this, HATS has the capability and the desire to undertake contracts for solo H2S routes in Birmingham but we have not been given the opportunity, or it is our understanding that we were outbid by other providers. The winning provider’s tender documentation should always be submitted in commercial confidence to BCC, so we would not have sight of another provider’s route pricing.

When asked to comment on an example route run by Green Destinations, which cost nearly £100 per day to transport one pupil under six miles each way, Mr Bilinski said: ‘We would have offered a much more competitive price. I want to deliver a service that is good value for money.

‘Based on the information you’ve given me there’s no way we would be charging this much.

He said: ‘The local authority should retender out the routes.’

And staff who brought up the issues with GDL contracts were accused of unfairly targeting the firm by senior managers. 

A poster advertising for new driver positions in Birmingham for Green Destinations Ltd

A Birmingham City Council spokesperson said: ‘The city council’s Internal Audit regularly carries out reviews across the organisation, and responded following an allegation that an employee or employees may have knowingly enabled or allowed overcharges to occur. The investigation found no evidence or indication of this.

‘Route costs vary due to the type of vehicle required, journey distances and durations and number of students on each vehicle and their individual needs. Solo occupancy routes are often required due to the individual needs of the students; these routes are regularly reviewed and all students are supported to access shared transport where appropriate.

‘Historically, a large number of contracts were procured at short notice and high cost due to the emergency procurement of North Birmingham Travel contracts to avoid substantial disruption to vulnerable Special Educational Needs Students’ school attendance. However, a new procurement Framework is being launched to enable us to procure our contracts cost effectively.’

They said they could not provide a copy of the internal audit report as it contains ‘commercially sensitive information’.

When specifically asked why Green Destinations and AFJ received the vast majority of solo routes between them, the spokesperson did not answer the question.

They said: ‘Following NBT termination there was an emergency procurement which was awarded to HATS.

‘There was also a further procurement exercise undertaken to provide temporary cover if needed during the mobilisation period for summer 2021. There was a poor response from the market, likely owing to the shortage of appropriate fleet/drivers etc. Green Destinations won this. Some solo routes may have gone to GDL via that mechanism.’

The spokesperson then claimed there was a ‘healthy split of solo routes between providers’ in May 2022. But leaked data shows and sources suggest this claim is open to question.

They said: ‘Our records show that when an exercise was undertaken to review the number of solo routes in May 2022, there was a healthy split of solo routes between providers. The number of solo routes was high at that time owing to COVID restrictions which were being phased out around then, allowing us to begin merging pupils back onto shared transport.’

When pressed again on why Green Destinations had such a high number of solo routes compared to other providers, BCC again did not answer the question.

MailOnline understands that the council’s internal review led to recommendations being made to senior leadership, but BCC did not disclose what these were when asked.

Responding to these three questions, the council instead said: ‘Our first consideration when making arrangements for transport is always the needs of the children and young people accessing the service. All home to school transport contracts have been tendered in accordance with the council’s procurement processes and in a legally compliant manner.

‘These processes are regularly audited as part of a planned review process, as well as in response to any concerns raised. These reviews have found the award of transport contracts to be compliant with legal tendering practices.

‘Contract prices will vary based on factors including the types of vehicle required for pupils’ needs and the availability of operators in the market at that time.

‘A small proportion of pupils receive one to one transport where this is necessary due to their needs. These solo routes are put out to tender and regularly reviewed.

‘The council is moving to a new procurement framework for home to school transport later this year which will promote greater competition for transport routes and reduce contract prices.’

Green Destinations Ltd did not respond when contacted for comment by MailOnline.

AFJ Ltd were approached for comment but one had not been provided by time of publication.

• Can you share any information on Birmingham City Council home to school transport contracts? Email [email protected]

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